McDonough refers to the book as an “action painting.” I think of it as one of Young’s own great guitar solos: it wanders all over the place, never loses its way, and hits raw moments of glory in the strangest places. Casual fans may feel it overstays its welcome in parts, and sometimes I did, but generally I found it continually integrated every new development into the story.
Young’s sound and vision depends on people like Roberts, producers like David Briggs and Jack Nitzsche, and a band like Crazy Horse, all of whom are totally committed but also fiercely unique. Young’s life requires no less, and in Shakey, he gets it. The best rock biography ever written? I don’t know. But it sure obliterates the memory of all others.
Article comments
1 - Eric Olsen
Super reivew Rodney: very fine representation of the book and of Neil himself, as subject as big as the great outdoors.
2 - Mary
Though I learned a lot from this book (e. g. never knew Rick James and Neil Young were in a band together), I found the author too fond of grand pronouncements to take seriously. He loves to make generalizations about whole decades, writing off the whole 80s for example, when the truth is there is good music and bad being produced at any moment in time. Such sloppy thinking and pretentious writing to boot!
3 - Rodney Welch
I never thought the thinking was sloppy. Was the writing pretentious? Well, it wasn't unpretentious, I'll grant you that, but here was a case where I thought the personal approach worked, much the way it does in the work of people like Lester Bangs or Nick Tosches.
4 - Thrasher
Rodney,
Interesting review of Shakey. Really liked your points about Neil playing with Crazy Horse since it demonstrates that Neil often is in this for more than just the music. It's often about a band that allows him to be himself and go to places he hasn't been before.
Take Greendale for instance.
Anyway, enjoyed the review and put a link to it on Thrasher's Wheat at:
http://home.earthlink.net/~thrasher1/wheatfield.html
There's also a link to other reviews of the Shakey bio.
Keep on Rockin!
Thrasher
5 - Rodney Welch
Thanks. I bought On the Beach this weekend -- hope to post some comments in the next day or so. A most interesting disc.
6 - bluesufi
at times i see neil young as a van gogh of music
he has definitely brought us colors we have never seen before
but given the tool of media, which van did not have, he has consciously created his own legacy
if he is a contradiction, he is a contradiction by choice
he seems to know, or has learned, the differences between utter selfishness, self preservation and pursuing the art of what he hears and wants to share.
how many of us given the means could do that ?
how many other rock artists given millions have had the consciousness to do that ?
dylan for sure
he is a man on many missions on many levels and somehow accomplishes it or walks away from it
he has never been owned by the music industry or any other artist
if nothing else, neil determined at an early age to be remembered and to do whatever that required
he's as strange a bird as rock music has ever heard and seen
except if he was a real bird he'd refuse to fly he'd make birds that drive tractor trailers and trains a reality
for a canadian he's as american as you can get
remember the american's ? (stills, '73)
to hate him is to love him